The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for placing a tarpaulin over a load, such as one carried by a truck, semi-trailer or other land or water load transportation vehicle, or a load stacked on a floor or the ground.
Operators of trucks or semi-trailers often protect a load being transported by covering the load with a tarpaulin. Installing the tarpaulin usually involves having a person climb to the top of the load and drag the tarpaulin over the load. Such a procedure is dangerous since the installer may fall to the ground, resulting in serious injury or death.
It has been suggested to use a device called a Barney's Beam. This device is a horizontal beam attached to a frame. One end of the tarpaulin is attached to the beam and frame on the ground, the beam and frame lifted with a forklift to a height above the load, the beam and frame advanced along the side of the truck to pull the tarpaulin over the load, and the tarpaulin tied down from the ground. Such a procedure can cause damage to the tarpaulin and/or load.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,634,850 describes a truck/trailer tarping device. This device can be mounted on the forks of a forklift and includes a tray portion and a plurality of wheels that can be rotated clockwise or counterclockwise by means of drive system. A tarp is placed between the wheels and the tray portion, and rotated in a direction to pull the tarp onto the tray, as best seen in FIGS. 11A-11C. The device is then moved by the forklift to a position over the load to be covered (as seen in FIG. 11D), and the wheels rotated in a direction to unroll the tarp over the load. This device is complicated.